‍‍ *‍‍ ‍𝓣𝙷𝙴 ‍ 𝐋𝐀𝓦𝐘𝐄𝐑 ‍‍

⠀ ✄ ┈ 𝙸𝙽𝚃𝙴𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽 𝙲𝙰𝙻𝙻𝚂 ⠀

⠀ 〝 Happy Valentine’s Day﹗Love is a scam. Thank fucking God I’m not a divorce lawyer. Anyway — 𝘾𝙃𝙀𝙀𝙍𝙎﹗〞 ⠀

⋯ these, too. Seriously.” Suddenly the lawyer began to laugh, shoulders shaking. “I mean— haha—” He shook his head, flicked a tear from his eye. “You probably could’ve bought yourself a 𝙲𝙰𝚁 with the payout! Christ, I almost feel like I owe you a drink or something.”

“I wouldn’t write it off as luck. Maybe you’re a little more generous than you think,” said Felix, sounding uncharacteristically thoughtful. Then his usual ( 𝙸𝙽𝚂𝚄𝙵𝙵𝙴𝚁𝙰𝙱𝙻𝙴 ) character returned and he added, “Shit, you could have gotten good money for ⋯

⋯ as 𝚅𝚄𝙻𝙽𝙴𝚁𝙰𝙱𝙻𝙴. Tyra took the money without hesitating. No hemming nor hawing to be done. Felix could appreciate his honesty. What he appreciated 𝙻𝙴𝚂𝚂 was the remark about pocketing his sunglasses and pawning them off ... But oh well.

“But I can usually manage walking in a straight line, believe it or not,” he joked. Sunglasses were pushed up once more, shielding his blue eyes. Felix had learned some time ago that making conversation was simpler when he didn’t give anything away. That way, he wasn’t ⋯

“I think you’re underestimating my 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙸𝚂𝙼𝙰,” said Felix, lowering his sunglasses and shooting a wink Tyra’s way. It was true. With the right words and good enough timing, he could talk a courtroom into believing just about anything. ( Or at least, he thought as much. )

⠀ ＊𝙾͟𝙾͟𝙲͟ : love how they’re both a bit fucked up actually elliot is attempting to rationalize this as a business tactic while felix is just a lonely mess (and halfway through his drink already, damn)

⋯ with me at first, but you get used to it.” He looked back to Elliot, tilting his head. “What about you? What made you want to... you know”— with one hand, he made a loose gesture —“work 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚂 kinda job?”

A moment passed. “Serial killers? Well ... I’m about the numbers. If someone offers me serious money to defend them —” He looked away. Scratched the scruff on his jaw. Offered a slight shrug. “I’m not gonna say 𝙽𝙾, y’know? I’ve worked with a few. Like I said, it fucked ⋯

Felix then pointed a finger at Elliot, giving it a pep-talk it seemingly didn’t ask for. “We’re 𝙶𝙾𝙾𝙳, alright? Not our fault the world’s so fucked up. If you didn’t do it, someone else sure as hell would.” The word 𝙶𝙾𝙾𝙳 felt weighty. He tried to say it with conviction.

“The people want what the people want!” Felix exclaimed, a little too loud. “S’not your idea to ... take pictures of dead people, right? But it makes good news!” Another long drink from the thermos. It took him a moment to realize his glasses were askance. He straightened them.

⋯ reminded him of his own mortality. It was a 𝚂𝙴𝙻𝙵𝙸𝚂𝙷 thing to admit. But the lawyer wasn’t known for being selfless to begin with.